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Oct. 30, 1928. 1,689,291

J. F. O'CONNOR FRICTION SHOCK ABSORBING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 31, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet 1 1 Inverzfa:

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' J. F. OCONNOR FRICTION SHOCK ABSORBING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 51, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet 2 kin a wmaa w A W 5 Patented Oct. 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F O'CONNOR, OF CHICAGO. ILLINOIS. ASSIGNOR TO W. H. MINER, INC., OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FRICTION SHOCK-ABSORBING MECHANISM.

Application tiled January 81, 1827. Serial No. 164,885.

This invention relates to improvements in friction shoekalisorbinginechanisms.

()no object of the invention is to provide a friction shoi-lt ab orbingmechanism espel-ially adapted f r railway draft riggings including aspring eage. friction shell and friction system (0 operating with theshell, the shell and rag:- having limited movement to provide forinitial sprin action, wherein the, shell is of simple design. lendingitsel t to economic manulin-ture and is removable to pro-- vide forreplacement of the shell by another when worn.

other and further bjects of this invention wi.l more fully and i-learlyappear from the description and claims hereinafter fol lowing.

In the drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is ahorizontal longitudinal sectional view of a railway draft rigrgingshowing' my improvements in eonneetion therewith. Figure 2 is a frontend elevational view of the shock absorbing merha nism proper. Figure 3is a vertieal transverse seetioual view corr sponding substantially tothe line 3 3 of Figure 1. And l'tigare 4 is a longitudinal vertiealsectional view of the front end portion of the shoek absorbing mechanismproper corresponding substantially to the line 4 l of Figure i.

In said drawings. 1t) 10 indicate ehannelshaped center or draft sills ofa railway ear underframe, to the inner sides of wlneh are secured frontstop lugs ll-ll and rear stop lugs 12-l2. The inner end portion of thedrawbar is indicated by lil, to which is oper atively eonneeted a yolollof well known form. The sho h absorbing mechanism proper and a frontmain follower l! are disposed within the yoke, and the yoke and theparts tlierewilhin are supported in operative position by a detachablesaddle plate lti fixed to the draft sills.

My improved SlHH'lt absorbing mechanism comprises broadly: a spring rageA; a l'rietion shell li; a wedge liloek a pair of frie tion shoes I) andl); a main spring resistance 1; and a retainer bolt (i.

The spring rage A is in the form of a. hollow hox-like rusting havin; atransverse end wall 17, longitudinally disposed vertiiail side wallsl8-lt\ and horizontally disposed spaced top and bottom walls li -l. Theend wall (Bo-operates with the star lugs l2 in the manner of the usualrear follower. The side walls as most clearly shown in Figure 1,converge forwardly of the mechanism and terminate in front end sections20-20 which are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of themechanism. At the unction between the main body portions of tilt! sidewalls 18 and the front end sections 20, the side walls are provided withinwardly projecting vertically dis osed stop flanges 2l21 which are adato to co-o crate with the inner end of the riction shel B to limit lonitiulinal movement of the same inwardly of 1 1e cage.

'lhe friction shell B is in the form of a substantially rectangularbox-like member open at its front and rear ends. The side walls of thefriction shell which are designated by 22 are provided with interiolongitudinally disposed friction surface 23-23 which eo-operate with thefriction shoes I) and i i. The side walls 23 of the. shell are lon-'gitudinally slotted as indicated at 24 to provide guideways forretaining elements 25-25 tixed to the spring cage, being riveted to thesections ill-of the side walls thereof. The retainin elements 25 are inthe form of rivetliko members having enlarged cylindrical inner endsections 26 which work directly in the slots 24. The rivet-likeretaining elements 26 extend through suitable openings in the side. wallsections 19 of the spring rage and have their outer ends upset so as toprovide. rivet heads for securing the same to the cage. 11. will beevident that it it is desired to replace the friction shell B when wornby a new shell the riu-t-lihe retaining elements 25 may he readilyremoved by cutting oil the heads of the same. The slots ll in the sidewalls ofthe friction shell are of such a length that the enlargements 26on the retaining elements will engage with the inner end walls of theslots, thereby limiting outward movement of the friction shell and thatthe outer end walls of the slots will be. engaged by said enlargementssimultam-ously with engzng'ement of the rear end of the shell It withthe stop flanges 21 ol the spring cage to limit inward nmrement. ol' thefriction shell.

llpon reference to Figure i it will'be seen that the friction shell isloosely teleseoped' within the front end seetibu oi th spring rage A andthat in its outermost position the shell has the front end thereotregistering cagre at all times.

he wedge C is in the form of a hollow block begin a fiat front end face27 hearing 'directly on t e inner side of the mam follower 15. At theinner end, the wedge block C is provided with inwardly converging Wedgefaces 28 and 29 at the opposite sides thcreo f, the wedge face 28 beingherein shown as disposed at a relatively keen angle with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the mechanism and the wedge face 29 being shown asdisposed at a somewhat blunter angle with respect to said axis.

The friction shoes D and E are disposed at opposite sides ofthemechzinism and are interposed between the wedge block C and the sidewalls of the friction Sllull 15. The two shoes D and E' are of similardesign exce t as hereinafter pointed out. Each of t 10 shoes is providedwith a longitudinally disposed outer flat friction surface 123 adaptedto co-operate with the cofresponding friction surface 23 of the shellll. At the inner side, each shoe is provided with a lateral enlargement30 having a wedge face at the forward side thereof, the wedge face onthe shoe D being designated by 129 and being correspondingly inclined tothe face 29 of the Wedge and co-operating therewith and the wedge faceof the shoe B being designated by 128 and being correspondingly inclinedto the wedge face 28 of the wedge C and co-operating therewith.Rearwardly of the enlargements 30'the shoes D and E are provided with 5need, inwardly projecting top and bottom anges 3131 as most clearlyshown in Fig ure 3.

The main spring resistance F comprises an inner, relatively-light coiland an outer heavier coil. The outer coil has its opposite ends hearingdirectly on the inner ends of the friction shoes D and E and the endwall 17 of the spring cage. The inner coil of the spring resistance hasthe rear end thereof bearing on an inwardly projecting hollow boss 32 onthe end wall 17. Tlie front end of the last named coil bears on theinner ends of the enlargements of the friction shoes. It will be seenthat bythe arrangement disclosed, an ex ceptionally long spring resiance element may be employed.

he retainer bolt G servcsjo hold the mechanism assembled and of overalluniform length, the head of the bolt being anchored within the hollowboss 32 on. the end wall 17 of the cage A and the nut of the bolt beinganchored to the wedge block C, the same being disposed within theopening of said block. The retainer bolt G in addition to holding theparts assembled, also'serves to maintain the spring resistance'F underan initinl compression. It will be evident that due to this initialcompression of the main spring resistspring resistance ance, the same isfree to expand as the friction and wedge faces of the mechanism becomeworn, thereby compensating for wear of these parts.

The operation of my improved shock ab- 'of the mechanism. This actionwill continue until the movement of the shell B is stopped by engagementwith the flanges or stop lugs 21 on the s ring cage, whereuponthefriction shoes will he forced to move onthe friction surfaces of theshell during the remainder of the compression stroke, thereby greatlyaugmenting the resistance offered to take care of relatively heavyshocks. tion will continue until the actuating force is reduced or themain follower 15 comes into engagement with the outer end of the springcage, whereupon the actuating force will be transmitting directlythrough the follower Th described ac-- and the s ring cage, theseelements acting as I a solid co umn load transmitting member to preventundue compression of the main s ring resistance and deliver the shockdirectly to the draft sills.

When the actuating force is reduced upon release of the mechanism, theex ansive ac-' tion of the main spring resistance will carry the wedgeblock and friction shoes outwardly, the shell B being also forcedoutwardly with these elements, due to the friction existing between theshoes and the shell. Outward movement of the shell will be arrested byenga ment with the stoprelements 25 whereupon 51 0 i will project theshoes and the wedge block C outwardly until movement of the wedge isarrested b the retainer bolt G. From the preceding escription taken inconnection with the drawings, it will be evidentthat I have provided afriction shell of exceedingl simple construction which may be economics.ly manufactured and readily replaced by a new shell when worn, therebyadding materially to the life of the whole gear.

As hereinbefore pointed out, .in order to replace the friction shell Bby a new shell, it is merely necessary to remove the vfiadge andfriction shoes and then remove the rivets 25, thereby permitting theshell to be withdrawn, A new shell will then be inserted and secured byrivets 25.

While I have herein shown and described what I now consider thepreferred manner of carry-mg out my invention, the same is merelyillustrative, and I contemplate all changes and modifications that comewithin the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a friction shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with a sprincageeleme'nt'; of a removable friction she 1 element telescoped withinthe cage element, said elements having relative movement limited toless-than "the 'full compression stroke of the mechanism;

stop means on the ca element for limiting inward movement of t e shellelement; means for limitin outward movement of the shell element, saidmeans including a fixed pin on a one of said elements workin'g'in' asloton the other element; friction meansco-operating with the shell; andspring resistance means within the cage co-operating with the frictionmeans.

2. In a friction shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with aspring cage; of a friction shell telescoped within the spring cage;means for limiting movement of the shell inwardly of the cage before themechanism has been fully compressed; means for limiting outward movementof the friction shell and maintaining said shell housed with- 'squaresection at one e day of January, 1927.

in the ringcage; friction means co-operatmg wit the shell and adaptedfor movement with t thereto; and means for yieldinginwardly of the cage.

1y resisting movement of said friction means 3. In a friction shockabsorbing mechani m, the combination with a sgring ca e having a nthereog; of a rec-- tangular friction shell telescoped within saidsquare end section of the cage; stop shoulders on the cage for arrestininward movement of the shell after a pre etermined compression of themechanism a pairof friction shoes co-operating with the shelland'movable rela tivelygethereto after movement of the shell has en.arrested; a. wedge block having wed engagement with the shoes; means for'miting outward movement of the shell including sto elements fixed tothe cage and en g wi 'in limiting slots in the shell; an spri resistancemeans. opposing move ment of t e shoes and shell inwardly of the I cage.

In witness that I claim-the fore ing I have hereunto subscribed my nameis 26th JOHN ocoimoa

